The artists in Ghost Pattern Waves make their mark through various means, a series of inputs, which make up a whole. Creating systems for response and translation become necessary siphons for information in a digital age. Fortunately, the humanistic and the sublime prevail despite the conditions of their creation. Ghost Pattern Waves encompasses an expansive view of the input, from audience responses to personal data, to IRL experience, that makes up the material of a work of art. What these works uncover is profoundly more human than what we perceive their chosen interfaces capture and bracingly, more elusive, imaginative, and transcendent.

Alexander DeGraaf performs as both Pastel Fractal and Conch Shell. Pastel Fractal’s mission is to perform wonders with the mission statements of Chicagoans. Pastel Fractal’s previous mission was to make dance music and sculpture while exercising a personal agenda to reuse the technologically obsolete, the aesthetically dated, and the wastefully discarded. Conch Shell’s mission is to play acoustic instruments while expressing her opinions and endorsing Pastel Fractal as an unbiased performer of wonders. Conch Shell misses Pastel Fractal’s old mission statement, and she believes that Pastel Fractal remains committed to that agenda. Alexander DeGraaf’s mission is to fund, maintain, and research Pastel Fractal in order to assure equitable performance of wonders regardless of the mission statements of Chicagoans.

Caleb Foss combines a spectrum of old and new media devices to focus on how their mechanics reflect and impact social and political structures. Drawing from a fascination with amusement park rides and magic tricks, these projects take an imaginative approach to everyday technologies.

Billy James Joyce is an artist and curator living in Chicago. Through painting, his practice explores place, memory and natural world. In 2012 he received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and in 2017 he will receive his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Performance Schedule:

Tuesday, April 4, 11am
Caleb Foss, Screen, performed by Maria Luisa, 5 mins.
Alexander DeGraaf, Pastel Fractal v7.3.0, 60 mins.

Wednesday, April 5, 12pm
Caleb Foss, Screen, performed by Alex Rodriguez, 5 mins.
Alexander DeGraaf, Pastel Fractal v7.3.1, 60 mins.

Friday, April 7, 12pm
Caleb Foss, Screen, performed by Kelsey Foss, 5 mins.
Alexander DeGraaf, Pastel Fractal v7.3.3, 60 mins.

Saturday, April 8, 12pm
Caleb Foss, Screen, performed by Cooper Forsman, 5 mins.
Alexander DeGraaf, Pastel Fractal v7.3.4, 60 mins.